The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, the approaches described in this section may not be prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
A communications network is any system or mechanism that provides for the exchange of information or data between participants. In existing wireless communications networks, such as a wireless Local Area Networks (LANs) or Personal Area Networks (PANs), a wireless access point functions as a transceiver in communicating with a number of wireless devices. As used herein, the term “wireless device” refers to any type of device that uses a wireless communications protocol to communicate. Example wireless devices include, without limitation, desktop, laptop and handheld computers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), cell phones and various other portable devices. The radiation pattern of wireless access points is usually omni directional, i.e., the wireless access point transmits information in 360 degrees, so that all wireless devices within range of the wireless access points receive all transmitted signals. Wireless access points also perform various management functions, such as selecting specific frequencies on which to transmit data to particular wireless devices in the system.
One ongoing issue with wireless communications architectures is how to increase the number of wireless devices that can simultaneously communicate within a specified physical area given a fixed amount of allocated electromagnetic spectrum. This is particularly important when a number of wireless devices in the specified area are attempting to simultaneously communicate with a wireless access point to access a communications network, such as the Internet. For example, it is not uncommon for large numbers of users to use laptop computers to access the Internet during tradeshows and conferences. As another example, in some corporate offices, many users share wireless access points to access the Internet with laptop computers. As yet another example, many coffee shops now offer free wireless Internet access to customers. All of these situations strain the available access resources since only a limited number of available communications channels must be shared by all participants. For example, the IEEE 802.11(b)/(g) standard in the FCC regulatory domain, sometimes referred to as “WiFi”, defines 11 communications channels. Thus, assuming that each channel is dedicated to a single user, only 11 users can communicate simultaneously.
Conventional approaches for addressing this problem include employing multiple access communications protocols to increase the number of wireless devices that can simultaneously access a wireless access point. Example multiple access communications protocols include, without limitations, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA). The use of multiple access communications protocols can significantly increase the number of wireless devices that can operate simultaneously on a specified set of communications channels. For example, the use of TDMA can triple the number of wireless devices that can share a specified set of communications channels compared to FDMA. Even using TDMA however, a wireless access point can communicate to only one wireless device in any one timeslot. Furthermore for any wireless device to communicate to another wireless device or to the wired network, it must transmit its data to the wireless access point. The wireless access point then transmits the data to another wireless device or to the wired infrastructure, such as the Internet. The throughput of the network is therefore necessarily limited by the throughput of communications between the wireless access point and any one wireless device at a particular point in time. Consequently, in existing systems, the amount of data that can be transferred at any one timeslot is equal to the throughput of the link from the wireless access point to the particular wireless device to which it is communicating. All other wireless devices are in a state waiting for a free time slot to transmit or receive a quantum of data.
Cross-channel interference is another issue confronting conventional approaches. In the previously described example of the IEEEE 802.11(b) standard in the FCC regulatory domain, the 11 communications channels often overlap one another. Thus, assuming that two users are each using different but overlapping channels, the two users' communications could interfere with one another.
Management and growing of networks of Wireless Access Points is a complicated process. Adding another wireless access point generally requires one to adjust the power and channel assignments of access points in the vicinity of a new access point in order to avoid interference.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a wireless communications architecture that does not suffer from limitations in prior approaches. There is a particular need for a wireless communications architecture that allows a greater number of wireless devices to communicate substantially simultaneously with little or no interference.